Trudeau’s government wedges itself between fixing the country’s problems and holding onto power

Housing and affordability issues can’t be fixed unless the Liberals expose themselves politically and risk electoral defeat

This week, Justin Trudeau’s cabinet met in PEI, and the message for Canadians was loud and clear: this government’s top priorities are housing and affordability.

If the Liberals don’t address the housing shortage, they will lose the next election. But to tackle one of the leading causes of the housing shortage, Liberals would need to address the fact that the country welcomes more immigrants than the system can accommodate. If they attempted to fix this issue, the government would alienate a core demographic vital to the Liberals winning the next election: newcomers to Canada. 

Likewise, if the Liberals don’t address the affordability crisis, they will lose the next election. But to tackle the leading cause of the affordability crisis, Liberals would need to address the massive government spending that is creating inflationary pressures on our economy. If they attempted to fix this issue by reducing spending, the Liberals would need to, at a minimum, abandon plans to introduce a universal pharmacare plan and Phase 2 of the Canada Dental Benefit. As a result, the coalition with the NDP would very likely end, resulting in an election by 2024 and a probable Liberal defeat. 

As I said, the biggest takeaway from this week’s cabinet retreat is that the Liberals have effectively wedged themselves between fixing Canada’s problems and holding onto power.